Rob Munday
Created as a cathartic experience for director Carlen May-Mann, Romance Package for Two is a captivating short that delves into the complex lives of a queer couple. Set in the love motel they run together, the 14-minute film explores how boredom and jealousy coexist with love and joy in a relationship, highlighting the necessity of navigating both to sustain a lasting bond.
“What can love, or romance, or sex look and feel like in these conditions?”
“With everything I write and direct, I tend to find inspiration in two main places: difficult or painful experiences from my own life, and a location that intrigues me”, May-Mann reveals in a conversation with S/W. Fascinated by love motels, the director was inspired to explore what “love, or romance, or sex look and feel like in these conditions”. While for those “painful experiences,” they had to delve deeper:
“I was also looking to explore the messiest situations I’ve been in as a queer person navigating sex and romance. Horrible breakups, love triangles, etc — though no events are taken directly from my life, the themes and emotional throughlines are. Writing Romance Package for Two was part of my process to fully internalise these scarring experiences and comprehend what exactly had happened.“
“I learned filmmaking all on 16mm film, down to cutting on a Steenbeck” – May-Mann on their passion for the tactile nature of shooting on film.
May-Mann admits that the three characters in their film “all hold parts of me and parts of people I’ve hurt and been hurt by” and viewers of Romance Package for Two will likely find something relatable in either Cleo, Judy, or Candy, depending on their own experiences. For the director, they used the process of creating the film as a way to reevaluate past relationships and see things from different angles. This shift in viewpoint might also resonate with the film’s audience as they reflect on their own pasts.
Romance Package for Two is more than just an insightful exploration of a queer relationship and a relatable narrative; it also deserves praise for its aesthetic achievements. Shot on 16mm film, the grainy, timeless quality perfectly complements the motel’s gaudy interiors. May-Mann, who has long been fascinated by “making the grotesque beautiful and the beautiful grotesque,” felt strongly that their short “needed to be shot on film” and fortunately, producers João Pereira-Webber and Noah Dirks shared that vision.
A fan of the tactile nature of shooting on film, May-Mann describes the creation of Romance Package for Two as a process that “rekindled” their love for filmmaking – a passion evident throughout this short. Now working on several feature projects, including a ghost story set in Laguna Beach, a surreal coming-of-age/horror film and a feature adaptation of this short, we hope to see more of the director’s passion on screen soon.